Culture Night hoping for fleadh boost as it returns to Belfast

The organisers of Culture Night Belfast are hoping the city can build on the success of the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann (All-Ireland Fleadh), as it delivers more than 200 free events on Friday.

The fleadh last month exceeded expectations, bringing 1.6m visits to the city over eight days of celebrations.

Director of Culture Night Belfast, Lois Kennedy, said she believes Belfast is "moving forward" and hopes that can now be enhanced further.

"We all know the vibrancy that came from the fleadh, we don't have the same resources and budgets of the fleadh, but we think it will be another amazing event on the night."

"I think the fleadh was a brilliant example of Belfast fell in love with itself again.

"And I think that is continuing, we are all getting to that point where we become proud of living and working in Belfast and we are really all starting to celebrate that more."

Kennedy said the theme of this year's festival is "be a city explorer" and she is encouraging people to not confine themselves to familiar areas, but to "challenge themselves".

A 19th-century former ironmongery warehouse in Belfast city centre, the Tropical Ravine in Botanic Gardens and the site of a former police barracks on west Belfast's Glen Road are among the unique locations hosting events on Friday.

The festival will run from 16:00 to 22:00 BST and Belfast City Council says there will be "no road closures".

There will be a "living jukebox" in Royal Avenue, a wrestling corner at Grand Central Station and Kate Bush fans will get a chance to strut their stuff at nearby Saltwater Square for a "Wuthering Heights extravaganza".

The Kitsch Sisters, who seek to empower women through "creativity, connection and community" are hosting "Cathy's Call" which will be a "flashmob, immersive dance".

"When people turn up, they must be wearing red, it is essential," Aoife McAteer told BBC Radio Ulster's the Ticket.

"You don't have to be a dancer, you don't have to have any rhythm, you don't have to come with a big group of people, just arrive.

"Arrive dressed in red, at seven o'clock [in the evening] and we have a choreographer there called Lauren, who is going to take everybody through the steps."

The original Culture Night in Belfast was launched in 2009 and continued to grow in scale, with the 2019 event attracting more than 100,000 people.

It was suspended in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic and briefly returned in 2021 on a smaller scale.

It was then paused, before returning in 2025.

Last year, Belfast City Council approached both the Department for Communities (DfC) and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) asking them to consider supporting the festival, but both departments said there was no spare money to do so.

Adam Turkington, was involved in the organisation of Culture Night between 2011 and 2016 and is a creative consultant for this year's festival.

"The scale isn't quite what it was, when I was in charge, largely because of hideous cuts to the arts sector, the arts sector in Belfast is on its knees," he said.

"It is much harder to get people to sign up to do Culture Night to be honest, people want to do it, but they just don't have the resources, or the resources are pitched to the limit already.

"The event only exists because [Belfast] City Council has put their money where their mouth is and put the money up to bring it back."

He said the fleadh had "super-charged" the debate around matters such as "pedestrianisation and the value of the arts".

"Essentially it is not really in our gift at this point strategically or financially to pedestrianise," he said.

"We sort of feel that we really want to focus on the venues and the arts organisations that make Culture Night and not make it about a street party essentially, but to push people into spaces that they maybe wouldn't go."

Turkington also said it was important to protect the "organisations and the sector that allows Culture Night to happen".

"I love this event because it is ours, and we get to show off our city.

"Culture Night, as far as I am concerned, should showcase the best of Belfast, for the citizens of Belfast. It is a gift to them to come out and see their city shine."

Culture Night is also taking place in Londonderry on Friday, with events including a celebration of Irish and Ulster-Scots poetry and literature in the Guildhall.

A full timetable of activities for Culture Night on the island of Ireland, including events in Derry, is available here.